SOLITARY BID OF £3

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 94, 14 January 1939, Page 5 (Supplement)

SOLITARY BID OF £3

Maori Chieftain’s Cloak Sold In London

FEW BUYERS PRESENT A solitary bid of io bought a valuable kiwi feather korowai, once worn by a Maori chieftain, at Sotheby’s London, in December. This korowai, or cloak, had been acquired from a member of the staff of the Auckland Museum by Major G. Byron, military secretary io the Governor-General (Lord Galway .’. for Mrs, P. Winter, of Penbury, Kent. After owning it for three months, she decided to sell it rather than run the risk of it being destroyed by moths during her absence from England. ,

Tacked by drawing pins cm :• scrim-covered wall at Sotheby’s, this Maori work of art hung, ticketed “Lot 234,” while native spearheads, drums, Assyrian stone beads and busts were sold under the light tap of the auctioneer’s hammer. Not more than a score of buyers were present, several of them dark, swart foreigners, with long overcoats nearly, reaching to their ankles. They clustered round a small green baize liorse-shoe-shaped. table, raising the bidding by hand signs and nods of the head. A quiet-voiced, dapper auctioneer offered lot after lot, in a conversational voice, from his elegantly-polished oak rostrum, the microphone before him being totally unnecessary on this occasion. By his side, an elderly greyhaired clerk, seated at a high-railed desk, silently marked the price of each lot as it was tapped down to the highest bidpler. Last Lot Offered. The kiwi cloak was the last lot offered. During dispirited bidding for a native war drum, it was taken down from the dull, brown wall. Before being offered, it was bundled round from hand to hand at the horseshoe table. Only one man scanned it with any attention. “How much for this lot?” asked the auctioneer, still in his conversational murmur. “Will anybody start the bidding for it? The sum of £3 is offered Are there any further offers?” There were none. Tap went the wooden hammer, striking the oaken desk lightly, and the Maori chieftain’s cloak, once insured for £5O in Auckland, became the property of an agent, who was buying on behalf of a client. He disappeared quickly through the swing door of the small room within a few seconds of the sale’s ending. The cloak was bundled unceremoniously into a bulging roll and placed on a glass coin case, next to headless. Egyptian statues, an ancient Roman olive jar, and mouldering spea? heads, there to await instructions for delivery to its new owner.